Fire Emblem: The Discussion Thread (keep FE Fates story under spoilertags)

[Gamegenie222]

I'm playing Normal mode yeah. I'll do hard mode right afterwards.

 

[Zora_of_Ylisse]

So, guys. I'm starting up a Lunatic Classic run on FE:Awakening. I've never beaten Hard Mode, so this should be fun. I'm betting that my only living units will be the required ones by the end. I'll give you guys periodic updates on how it's going.

 

[PsychoIncarnate]

I keep playing the game, then stopping and trying to figure out how to mix and match parents to get the best child. And never quite figuring it out and never starting again for a long time

 

[Aninymouse]

I keep playing the game, then stopping and trying to figure out how to mix and match parents to get the best child. And never quite figuring it out and never starting again for a long time

If you want optimized pairings, this might help:

As voted on by the GameFAQs community:

Lucina
Sumia!Lucina: S
Olivia!Lucina: S
Maribelle!Lucina: S
Sully!Lucina: B
maiden!Lucina: C

Cynthia
Gaius!Cynthia: S
Chrom!Cynthia: S
Henry!Cynthia: S
Frederick!Cynthia: B


Kjelle
Gaius!Kjelle: S
Donnel!Kjelle: S
Vaike!Kjelle: A
Virion!Kjelle: B
Kellam!Kjelle: B
Lon'qu!Kjelle: B
Gregor!Kjelle: B
Libra!Kjelle: B
Henry!Kjelle B

Brady
Donnel!Brady: S
Lon'qu!Brady: S
Gaius!Brady: S
Gregor!Brady: S
Libra!Brady: S
Henry!Brady: S
Chrom!Brady: A
Frederick!Brady: A
Virion!Brady: A
Vaike!Brady: A
Kellam!Brady: A
Ricken!Brady: A

Owain
Stahl!Owain: S
Ricken!Owain: S
Frederick!Owain: A
Virion!Owain: A
Lon'qu!Owain: A
Gaius!Owain: A
Libra!Owain: A
Henry!Owain: A

Inigo
Chrom!Inigo: S
Frederick!Inigo: S
Stahl!Inigo: S
Kellam!Inigo: S
Ricken!Inigo: S
Libra!Inigo: A
Henry!Inigo: A

Severa
Frederick!Severa: S
Kellam!Severa: S
Lon'qu!Severa: S
Stahl!Severa: S
Ricken!Severa: S
Virion!Severa: S
Vaike!Severa: A
Gregor!Severa: A
Henry!Severa: A
Libra!Severa: A
Gaius!Severa: A

Gerome
Vaike!Gerome: S
Henry!Gerome: S
Stahl!Gerome: S
Gregor!Gerome: S
Ricken!Gerome: A

Noire
Gaius!Noire: S
Donnel!Noire: S
Lon'qu!Noire: A
Gregor!Noire: A
Stahl!Noire: A

Laurent
Stahl!Laurent: S
Gregor!Laurent: S
Lon'qu!Laurent: A
Ricken!Laurent: A
Gaius!Laurent: A

Nah
Gaius!Nah: A
Donnel!Nah: A
Frederick!Nah: B
Stahl!Nah: B
Vaike!Nah: B
Ricken!Nah: B
Kellam!Nah: B
Gregor!Nah: B

Yarne
Stahl!Yarne: S
Frederick!Yarne: A
Virion!Yarne: B
Kellam!Yarne: B
Lon'qu!Yarne: B
Ricken!Yarne: B
Gaius!Yarne: B
Donnel!Yarne: B
Gregor!Yarne: B
Libra!Yarne: B

Skills and class selection are prioritized over stat caps, though that is only a general statement and does not always hold true for this list. But, it is mostly the case.

The majority of the time, skills and classes count for more than stat mods. You can have high stats, but if you have no skills or classes to use them properly, do they really matter as much? This is why Vaike!Yarne is generally frowned upon, despite having high attack, for instance, since Vaike just gives Hero class. Literally.

Avatar x Anyone makes for a decent pair. Usually the best pair (S rank). It's hard to make a bad Avatar pairing, though if you deliberately tried, it is possible, I guess.

Lower-scoring pairs aren't listed in the interest of keeping the list shorter and more manageable. If a pair isn't listed here, it's considered mediocre at best. The scale goes: D (below average), C (mediocre), B (above average), A (fantastic), S (perfect/best possible).

 

[fe_wander]

So, guys. I'm starting up a Lunatic Classic run on FE:Awakening. I've never beaten Hard Mode, so this should be fun. I'm betting that my only living units will be the required ones by the end. I'll give you guys periodic updates on how it's going.

Oh lord. Well, I'm nice, so I'll link you to this thread now. You might need it.
http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=48207&p=3166668

It's a reliable chapter 2 clear on Lunatic+ so it should be good for Lunatic. And Chapter 2 on Lunatic is evil.
He lists some requirements, but I'm thinking you can get by without them on regular 'ol Lunatic.

 

[Aninymouse]

Chapters 0-3 on Lunatic are all pretty evil, imo. Once you get to chapter 4, things get a tad easier until you have to rescue Maribelle. Then they get easier again. Unless you're doing a no-grind, and then it never truly gets "easy" per se.

 

[Gamegenie222]

I'm at Ch.21 in POR right now and I got Jill and Ilyana promoted and I had Ike finished off Jill's father in the previous chapter and couldn't damage him at all to warrant trying to get the finishing blow with her . I finally got Mist support conversation with Rolf maxed out now I'm working on Ilyana's support with Mia to get the A level support. Taking a small break cause I got a tourney tomorrow with alot of people coming out of state for so I need to stay focused.

 

[Aninymouse]

Why would you want Jill to kill her own dad again? I mean, sheesh.

 

[Raziek]

Why would you want Jill to kill her own dad again? I mean, sheesh.

It actually makes the moment super emotional, so I usually do it just to make it a more emotionally interesting story.

 

[Aninymouse]

It actually makes the moment super emotional, so I usually do it just to make it a more emotionally interesting story.

I never did it because... It just seems cruel. I usually had Ike kill him, and that's bad enough as it is...

 

[Gamegenie222]

Raziek gets it yeah it's messed up but i want my emotional story dammit. I did the same thing against Validar with Robin and in Sacred Stones I had Cormag fight Valter and Joshua fight Calliegh or whatever his name as well.

 

[Raziek]

I always have Josh fight Caellach. Especially when you go Eirika's route. I usually go Ephraim's, so I had forgotten how much plot he actually gets if you go her route.

 

[Gamegenie222]

Joshua gets mad plot when you go Eirika's route also Cormag is on a revenge mission for his fallen older brother when you take her route as well. For Joshua when I take Eirika's route I'll get him to level 20 and once the chapter begins against Caellach and Valter I'll promote Joshua to swordmaster then have him fight Caellach for that plot and tension.

 

[BlueSuperSonic1]

Resolve + wrath is better because 42 speed is OP. Lets you double BK and Ashnard and dodge relatively everything. Also massive strength buff as well with crits making it stronger than aether. Skill buff means higher crit rate plus wrath so 60-70% crit rate

You can't have Resolve+Wrath for the Black Knight fight. You get the Resolve scroll during that chapter and can't equip it until you're at base next chapter.

 

[fe_wander]

Shiharam isn't evil like Valter/Calleach/Validar are, though. I dunno, seems a bit too much to me. Him dying period, especially if you bring Jill to the map, is emotional enough.

@ Aninymouse : I find chapters 0-1 pretty manageable on Lunatic. I probably rely on Frederick a bit too much, though. Chapter 2 is easily the hardest of the first few chapters, and chapter 3 is pretty tricky. It's sort of a race to wipe out one half of the starting area before the other one can get to you. I don't remember how I did chapter four, but I know I've cleared that far. I think I stopped afterwards, though.

 

[Zora_of_Ylisse]

An update on my Lunatic run: I just saved Maribelle; couldn't save Ricken, sadly. He lived so fast...died so young....ANYWAY! I'm trying to hitch my female Robin with Stahl and Chrom with Olivia. My living team consists of:
Robin, Chrom, Stahl, Lissa, Frederick, Maribelle and Miriel.

Deceased: Virion (Chapter 1, Killed in combat with Risen Chief)
Sully (Chapter 2, Surrounded by Risen, managed to kill 4 before falling in battle)
Vaike (Chapter 2, Forgot his axe.)
Ricken (Chapter 5, Opened a path for Maribelle, but was flanked by Risen Myrmidon)

It's quite clear that this will be the most theatrical, heart-in-mouth run of FE:A I've ever had.

 

[Raziek]

Deceased:
Vaike (Chapter 2, Forgot his axe.)

This caught me off guard. Freaking LOL.

 

[Terywj [태리]]

May he rest in peace, a hero to us all.

 

[Aninymouse]

To me, Vaike is the funniest Fire Emblem character ever.

 

[xLemmy_KoopaX]

Virion!Brady: A

Actually, Virion!Brady could very well be S as well. Brady has everything he needs, and 45 speed + Hit +20 as a bonus are pretty great, after all.

EDIT: I do know that everything was voted, but no one really cared about Virion!Brady although he's a hidden gem.

 

[Aninymouse]

Actually, Virion!Brady could very well be S as well. Brady has everything he needs, and 45 speed + Hit +20 as a bonus are pretty great, after all.

I agree that Virion!Brady is quite good, but you have to realize the connotation behind what I posted: these results were voted on. What I didn't say was that the results were averaged, not a simple majority, due to low vote count. Some children like Nah, who are unpopular, only got 4 votes, while popular ones like Severa got a lot more. So while Virion!Brady might be just as good as some other pairing, this is the average of many people's opinions.

A classic example was most people voting Gregor!Laurent higher than Stahl!Laurent, when Stahl gives Laurent Luna instead of Armsthrift. I think that Stahl!Laurent is better and I voted that way, but not many others did. They ended up as the same rank average.

 

[fe_wander]

Well, I completed FE6. I have to say, it was pretty good overall. The endgame in general was a little underwhelming, but wrecking dragons with all my full-use divine weapons was humorous, at least. Not much else to say, really. It was a good game with some shortcomings, but it's still Fire Emblem.

Ended up moving on to FE12. It's so much better than Shadow Dragon it's not even funny. My only issues so far are that a couple of the map designs have been terrible, the difficulty is inconsistent, and the avatar praising got out of hand very quickly. The map designs are the main culprit, though, mostly because some of them are just really long pathways filled with lots of walking and not much else.

The base conversations do a lot to help flesh out the characters and story, so I'm much more invested in this than I was in SD. The assassin sub-plot feels a little forced, but ultimately I'm intrigued by it, so I'll see where it goes.

 

[Zora_of_Ylisse]

I managed to get through Chapter 7 on my Awakening Lunatic run. Robin and Stahl are at B-Rank relations, so I'm getting closer there. Defending Emmeryn was tougher than expected, but chapter 7 was a bit easier.
My main team so far seems to be Chrom, Robin, Frederick, Lissa, Miriel and Kellam
Deceased: Mirabelle (Chapter 6, kept Marth alive throughout the battle, Marth didn't return the favor.)
Sumia (Chapter 7, She's a Pegasus Rider. Frankly, I'm surprised she lasted this long.)

I'm doing much, much better than I ever expected. The fact that I'm not forced to to solo every level yet is a major surprise. I really thought I'd be in dire straights by the time I got to Regna Ferox. Now I just need to work on keeping people alive.

 

[darthnazgul]

Hey, looking to get Fire Emblem Awakening soon and I was wondering a few things; I'm completely new to the series, only jumping on because I heard such good things about it. Would I need to know much lore to get the gist of it or is it a self-contained story? And I've also heard that it's hard, but how so? I know about the whole perma-death thing and I've managed other games where that's a key component, but exactly how difficult is it? Like XCOM hard?

 

[Zora_of_Ylisse]

The story is self-contained, so minimal prior knowledge is required. The difficulty is also highly customizable and allows you to turn off the perma-deaths if you so choose. On the Normal difficulty, it's exactly that. Normal. Not too hard, not too easy.

 

[fe_wander]

Hey, looking to get Fire Emblem Awakening soon and I was wondering a few things; I'm completely new to the series, only jumping on because I heard such good things about it. Would I need to know much lore to get the gist of it or is it a self-contained story? And I've also heard that it's hard, but how so? I know about the whole perma-death thing and I've managed other games where that's a key component, but exactly how difficult is it? Like XCOM hard?

The stories for each game are almost all their own universe, if you will. Awakening is set on the same continent as another FE game, but several thousand years later, so the references are minor.

The only XCOM game I've played is Enemy Unknown, and Awakening on normal mode is significantly easier than that one is in my opinion. Of course, I'm more familar with Fire Emblem, but you shouldn't have any trouble if you're familiar with XCOM. Since it is your first FE I'd recommend you start on normal, although you may roll through it.
Keep in mind, there's a "casual" option for Awakening that lets you turn permadeath off if you want. I always play "classic" (permadeath on) but hey, options are good.

 

[NickRiddle]

I would still suggest playing Fire Emblem for the GBA first. It has an in-depth tutorial which is very helpful if you have never played FE before.

 

[darthnazgul]

Thanks guys. I'll probably keep perma-death on, against what is probably better judgement. Adds more tension.

 

[Aninymouse]

Thanks guys. I'll probably keep perma-death on, against what is probably better judgement. Adds more tension.

It really helps you make better tactical decisions, but losing 45 minutes by slipping up right at the end of a map (or getting bad luck) has been enough to make me not frown on casual mode. I wouldn't do casual mode on your first save file, but if you're going to replay the game again, it would help you complete maps a bit faster to go with casual mode... Unless of course you let people die, which some do. Then there's no difference. I just very rarely ever let characters die, unless it's one I generally don't care about.

 

[Gamegenie222]

Path Of Radiance update so far.

I'm at Ch. 23 and I have Astrim, Rhys, Zihark, Soren all promoted and about to promote Gatire as well. Also I recruited Haar and have him finish off Patrice one of the 4 generals of Ashnard.

EDIT: Finished Ch.24 and now on Ch 25 lol.

 

[Ussi]

Try to use a unit I don't normally use... He dies at the end of a chapter due to a 3% crit... Reflect on the level ups I got... "I didn't like you anyways" *moves on*

On a side note, doing an awakening run and Sumia is super str blessed for me. I think she got a str boost each level up.,. Pic to come soon

 

[Aninymouse]

War Cleric Sumia has become my favorite Sumia, although you can super-duper grind her into the best damage-dealing Dark Flier in the first generation, too. Well, maybe Aversa can use Nosferatu while flying around, sure, but she doesn't get Tomefaire or Luna, as I recall.

 

[Ussi]

Spoiler

Level: 13
HP: 28
Str: 15 !!!!
Magic: 4
Skill: 20
Speed: 20
Luck: 12
Defense: 9
Resistance: 13

Now lets do some math..

Base stats and growth rates as Peg knight:

Level 1
HP: 18 (75%)
Str: 6 (45%)
Magic: 3 (25%)
Skill: 11 (70%)
Speed: 11 (70%)
Luck: 8 (60%)
Defense: 5 (30%)
Resistance: 7 (40%)

Average at 13 and comparison to mine: math is (level - 1) x rate
HP: 27 (+1)
Str: 11.4 (+3.6!)
Magic: 3 (-2)
Skill: 19.4 (-.6)
Speed: 19.4 (-.6)
Luck: 15.2 (-3)
Defense: 8.6 (+.4)
Resistance: 11.8 (+1.2)

For someone so unlucky, she sure is lucky. I feel like marrying this Sumia.

 

[-ShadowPhoenix-]

So I just finished FE Awakening on Hard Classic and was really blown away with how much I enjoyed the game. I have played the two GBA titles and Shadow Dragon previously, but they never compelled me to go back and replay them. I think the support system and pairing was what did it for me. Do previous titles not have a similar system or am i just a n00b who missed it?

 

[Ussi]

every game has a support system (IE two units have a conversation together and then get support bonuses when near each other). Pair up is unique to awakening and marriage/kids is in FE4 and awakening. Support system in other games did cause paired endings for certain pairs, but it did nothing else besides support bonuses.

 

[Gamegenie222]

FE9( Path Of Radiance update) I'm at Ch.27 right now and about to fight the Black Knight with a Lvl 19 Ike with Max Strength and Speed.

EDIT: Defeated the Black Knight with a Aether on the last turn before Nasir stopped the battle.

 

[Aninymouse]

Some games, like Radiant Dawn, don't even have support conversations, sadly. Awakening really just hit the nail on the head, basically.

 

[Ussi]

Radiant Dawn has a support system, just not a character development one. The conversations were all generic 1 liners. Gameplay wise, its the best support system as anyone can support with anyone so you can you own custom duo pairs you want. Awakening has a good balance between gameplay bonus and character development.

 

[Aninymouse]

Radiant Dawn has a support system, just not a character development one. The conversations were all generic 1 liners. Gameplay wise, its the best support system as anyone can support with anyone so you can you own custom duo pairs you want. Awakening has a good balance between gameplay bonus and character development.

I understand. I just didn't appreciate the lack of character developement. Granted, there was a lot of pre-battle and post-battle prattle that did the job, but it's hard to have too much character developement.

Keep in mind, Dawn is easily my favorite FE overall. I'm not downing it. I just think Awakening excells more in the relationship department, for obvious reasons. I liked the battles and character models way better in Dawn, for instance, and I enjoyed the somewhat higher difficulty.

I think the biggest mark against Awakening is, oddly enough, the pair-up system. It makes the game exponentially easier, and Lunatic isn't really any fun... For me, at least. I think the best way to play Awakening is without pair-up, but then you get late in the game, after the Valm arc, and you almost have to for a while, due to the sudden spike in enemy stats. And those infernal Mire snipers and their 30% hit rates making you have to restart the map if they get lucky...

 

[Gamegenie222]

So small update again for Path Of Radiance I'm at the endgame right now. Gonna finish this game today.